Page 32 of Sheltering Lily

Because he was. He so was. I closed my eyes, nestling my face against Sofia’s soft hair. Colin was the man I loved. A rush went through me. I’d known that was true, so the depth of my love wasn’t a surprise, but it was a relief to pull it out from the layers of my heart and acknowledge it.

“Night-night, sweetie.” I slowly lowered Sofia into the crib, but I didn’t leave the girl’s bedroom. I stayed in the dimly lit room to think.

The day my aunt had offered me the internship, I’d been elated…but the thought of leaving Colin and Sofia had dampened my excitement. It had been that way in the time since. I’d teetered between the idea of pursuing what I saw as the first step to my dream job and staying with my dream man and family.

It took Colin being shot for me to understand and accept that my dream had changed. I could have everything I wanted, everything that would make me happy, right there with Colin.

If he felt the same about me. That’s what I didn’t know.

I was going to have to be brave and confess my love. If he didn’t want me, I’d leave. I would have no choice. But I had hope, some derived from the way he’d held me that afternoon and some from the way he’d reacted when I’d told him about the internship. I thought about his face that day in the kitchen. He’d shut me out so rapidly it had sliced through me, but was he only protecting his own heart?

When he got home from the hospital, I was going to take the second chance fate had given me.

17

COLIN

“Are you brothers?” the emergency room nurse asked with a smile after she cleaned my gunshot wound. She looked between me and Zach.

“Yep. I’ve been trying to keep this guy in line for years. See how successful I was?” Zach gestured to my injured arm.

“Must be a tough job,” she said.

I didn’t miss the flirtatious glance she gave me. I assumed she’d noted Zach’s wedding band, because all her attention was directed to me. I wasn’t interested, not when the woman I loved was waiting at my house. Even if she wasn’t truly mine.

“How much longer until we can go?” I asked, keeping my expression neutral. I wanted out of this small room that smelled of disinfectant as soon as possible.

The nurse’s smile dimmed. “The doctor will be in to suture you up in a few minutes.”

“Thanks,” I said as the nurse was leaving.

“You ruined her fun,” Zach teased.

“Not interested. And this is too much fuss over a scratch.” I looked at my arm. It was a nasty gash, but it wouldn’t slow me down any.

“I thought your combat days were behind you,” Zach said. “Guess you never know.” I shrugged. “Seriously, I’m glad everyone’s okay. Carolyn said the patrol car is parked at the end of the driveway. The kids played, and Sofia’s gone to bed. Everything’s fine.”

“Lily?” I had to ask, because I didn’t know what to expect. For all I knew, she might be packing her bags at that moment, preparing to take the internship in New York.

“Carolyn reports that Lily’s pretty shaken up,” Zach said as he scrolled through his messages. “They’re having some wine, and she’s trying to get her to relax.”

“Yeah, makes sense.” At my gruff tone, Zach pinned me with a look that said, I’m your older brother. What do you need to tell me?

“You need to talk or want some advice on women?” Zach offered.

“Nope.” I was too busy thinking about Lily sitting in the kitchen, drinking wine. Maybe for the last time. The internship she wanted started in two weeks. She was halfway out the door. A fact I didn’t share with my brother.

“You know that Lily won’t let anything happen to Sofia,” Zach reminded me, misreading my mood.

Lily would throw herself in front of a bullet before she’d let anything hurt my daughter. I did know that. But when she left, Sofia would be hurt, maybe devastated. And how the hell was I going to deal with that on top of my own sense of loss? I knew the answer: I’d have to bury my feelings for Lily—as I’d been trying to do ever since she told me about the internship—and focus on what my daughter needed.

“What did you hear from the police?” I asked to change the subject. Earlier, Zach had stepped into the hallway and taken a call.

“They picked up the DEA agent, Newhart, for questioning—with the cooperation of the feds, of course,” Zach answered.

“What charges did they arrest him on?”

“Quite a few, actually. There was a lot of incriminating information on Stout’s phone about their drug smuggling operation. These guys weren’t cautious because they thought they’d be in the wind soon. That’s why Stout was so determined to get his hands on Lily. There were some issues with their latest shipment that had them worried it was all going to fall apart. To get ahead of the authorities, they were all about to go on the run. Stout wasn’t willing to let her go, so he was going to drag her along with them.”

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